The film and also novel that I chose is The Help. The award winning film is based during the civil rights movement where an aspiring author decides to write a book. Throughout the movie Skeeter (the writer and one of the main characters) watches the lives of black women who work for white families. She then writes a book about all of the experiences they have had and even what she saw and turned it into a book. The book was based on African American maids’ point of view on the white families they worked, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis. I chose this film because it shows an excellent example on how gender, race and class fell into place during the 1960s and how these women and some of the men were treated. Although today …show more content…
With every middle-class white family came a African-American “help”, a maid who was a lot more than a mere maid, so that the white women didn’t have to work. The white women were repulsed by the color of the skin of the women who worked for them, but they were fine with handing over their kids for them to care for. The snobby middle-class women took advantage of the fact that they were the source of money and food so they worked the women all day and sometimes all night. Although, one of the white middle-class wives did treat her maid fairly and with love and respect not all were that way. There, was also a stereotype shown of the white men and how they treated the maids. In one of the scenes Minny (a maid) was coming back with groceries for Celia. Minny noticed that Celia’s husband was coming up the driveway and started to run. In this scene it shows the fear that she had for this wealthy man and was concerned that he was going to hurt her, even though he was a good man it just gives insight that many wealthy men have hurt the “help” because of the certain power they have. This movies shows that the stereotypes following class, do reinforce cultural stereotypes then and sometimes now, just different …show more content…
It shows discrimination, racism, sexism, and misogyny all throughout this movies, which isn’t there to tell stories, but to show the harsh reality of what was going on during that time. The film came out in 2014 and people then could even see similar characteristics and relate them to our everyday lives and things that we see on the news. The Help relates so much to intersectionality and shows its true importance in the message it is giving out and the importance of it. The point isn’t to favor women in this film, but to just shed light onto what was going on and what is still going on in the certain
For one, black women were misrepresented as being like Mammy, which caused many Americans to overlook the discrimination that restricted black women to harsh, low-paying working conditions in which employers frequently mistreated and abused them (ABWH). Much of the culture and speech of blacks was also misleading. The film revealed an overemphasized juvenile black dialect in black women’s speech. Also, the movie categorized black men as abusive alcoholics or absent. African Americans have gained strength from public institutions for ages, and the black family encouraged one another to fight against diversity.
These maids did all the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, and they cared for the families’ children. The maids were not allowed to use the restroom inside, they had an outhouse they had to use outside. The African American maids would also get beat if they did not respect their families. Moreover, the maids were not supposed to be ‘’friends’’ with the white people. If someone
The Jackson environment was featured by a rough social structure and certain rules of behavior. Rich, color, family background and reputation specified your social status and your relationship with others in the society. Although the racism had no legal foundation, it was hard for color people to move between classes or make their way into high social circles. If color people do Any act of rebellion could mean a lot of social problems and complete isolation in the community. This would cause very bad consequences especially in terms of employment or marriage considerations. We obviously touch this through the character of Celia and her relation with Hilly and the Junior, of which Hilly is the leader. Hilly considers Celia as “white trash” because she comes from a poor area of Mississippi called Sugarditch. She disregards Celia’s offers to help with arranging a Donations interest. Celia is a good and somewhat simple girl who just wants to be one of the Jackson women. We see that when at the benefit one of the Junior League member’s comments on Celia’s because she wears revealing cloths. She says “bosoms are for bedrooms and breastfeeding. Not for occasions with dignity. I want her to cover. Them. Up”. Hilly also thinks to herself that Celia does not have the “gentility” to join the Junior League which consists of respectable women in the community”. These instances expose how Celia was judged according to her look and background instead of her personality. The setting is important to make it easy for readers to understand the inequality that a lot of women faced during this 1960’s
Specially, the white women are unfair against black maids mainly, they have no jobs. Through the out the story, time after we can see the white women pilling up on the black maids who go to working in their house. Further more, it continues outside home. Lets take Ms. Hilly for instance, She goes around saying Minny "stole a candelabra from Miss Walters!", even thought it's true no person destroy someone's reputation. The white women clearly were not allowed to work since the maids are doing their work. Their real completions are the black women since their husband are off working hard. In result, they have no job but to gossip around; destroy relationship and break people's heart.
The movie “The Help” was based In the early 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi. During this period of time it was very segregated, very much so that whites did not want African Americans to have contact with them, but were expected to fully take care of their children from birth to adulthood. Most of the African American maids later developed a strong bond with the children that they looked after. They tried teaching the kids to see no color, just to later witness them grow up to be brainwashed by the world to think of African Americans as less than. Except for one southern girl named Skeeter Phelan, who saw the equality in everyone. And one day she decided to interview the maids to get their perspectives on life and to get their story out to the world. At first the maids were hesitant because it would be serious consequences if anyone knew who exactly spoke up, but Skeeter did whatever she could to make sure all the maids were anonymous and no one knew. She risked many hardships like losing her relationship with her boyfriend and also building tension with the women of the Junior League. Successfully the maids stories got out and it opened eyes little by little.
Black people were treated like nobodies in many places in the united states and in the book they were treated like nobodies. Minny’s mom was a house maid and that where she learned to clean. She wanted to become a house maid when she got older and that’s what she did. When her mother was a maid she made little pay, and she was treated
The film I chose was Mahogany. The drama film was about a struggling fashion design student name Tracy from Chicago who found success through modeling in Rome with the help of a fashion photographer. As she became more successful it tarnished her relationship with a social activist name Brian and in the fashion industry. In the film the actress shows that Tracy represents women who come from rough environments that are willing to see bigger dreams for themselves. Tracy is relatable to women then and now because we all have an urge of wanting success and all of the perks that comes with following something you are truly passionate about. Mahogany represents women going through the process of fame and success and not being able to handle the
There are five white female characters that help make up The Help and the only blacks being the maids themselves. One is the protagonist, Miss Skeeter Phelan who in my opinion is only viewed this way because she is the one supposedly helping the black women out by exposing the inequalities and injustices that black women faced during this time period but I feel she used them to empower herself as a white women and progress in her own life. Another white female character is Hilly Holbrook
The Help displays issues of gender, class, and race. The wealthy white citizens are dominant in society and government. African Americans have segregation laws, pushing them to strive for equality. There is a push for upward mobility from the help to experience the American dream. Men are expected to work while women stay at home with their children. Men appear to be aggressive and hold dominance over women. Women are held to higher standards of beauty.
The movie, The Help, is based on the book written by Kathryn Stockett. It was released in 2011 and directed by Tate Taylor (Taylor, 2017). The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s, and it is about the experiences black women had as maids for white families. These women decided to risk it all and tell their stories in an effort to show what is was really like for them (Taylor, 2011). The Help illustrates how these women fought racism and prejudice by becoming unified with one another. This paper will address how prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping, and inequality affect the characters and their relationships in the story.
In the film ‘The Help’ directed by Tate Taylor, there are many important conflicts. One conflict is ongoing between the two characters, Minny and Hilly, of Minny not being able to use the inside toilet and Hilly not giving Minny the same privileges as white people. This conflicts help me understand the event of Minny giving Hilly her pie full of her feces. It helps me understand the reason Minny put her feces into the pie. It also helped me understand the negative relationship between Minny and Hilly.
Part 1 - In American author's 2009 book, The Help, the primary thesis is the relationship between Black maids and white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s. The story is really told from three perspectives, Aibileen and Minny are Black women, both maids, and Skeeter is the nickname of Eugenia Phelan, daughter of a prominent White family. Skeeter has just finished school and hopes to become a writer. In general, the relationship between the Black maids and the White employers is six sided: On one side we have the White employers who have three views: 1) Their personal and private beliefs that can range from extreme scorn and bias to kindness regarding race; 2) Their public persona that must have the "proper" attitude about Blacks and "the help," and 3) Their employer attitude, which is condescending and parental. The Black view also has three segments: 1) Their personal and private beliefs that usually range from understanding not all Whites are the same and an extreme love and empathy for the White children for whom they care; 2) The public persona that is deferential, polite, and stoic to their White bosses; and 3) Their attitude and view among the Black community, which usually separates the "poor and ignorant but rich" White souls from the Black view of family and common sense. All in all, the relationship is contentious, phony, and based on economic advantage.
Although the maids were struggling and going through a difficult time in 1960’s, The Help portrays that their family members were too. Segregated society against the backdrop of the growing US civil rights movement in the 1960’s has an impacted. “Race also determines who has access to educational, occupational, and economic opportunity. Racial tensions are high as white community members employ violence and coercion to try to keep the Civil Rights Movement from sweeping into their Mississippi town” (Shmoop Editorial Team). The white community in the movie continue to keep the black women as their servants throughout their lives. As Skeeter the white lady, who writes a book about The Help and portrays through the book that the African American women go through. As the white women of Jackson, Mississippi read the book they began to act more violent to the black women. The book is away as the black women to make a statement about the civil rights they have.
In her review, Claudia was basically focused on how the movie was based on racism and that in this time in the 1960’s that the movie would not be a great movie to see. Claudia, states this statement because of all issues that were going on with the civil rights at the time and how their services as maids were taken for granted. While in the process the women who were maids went to meet with Sly to them their stories a bond was created by Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny and from there they build a sisterhood. Claudia also praises the fact that everyone did a great job in playing the characters. This article is a great resource because it pointed out how the maids were taken advantage of and this would be a great way to get specific details.
Like I mentioned earlier, “The Help” seems to be an imperfect depiction of the 1960’s so far. And again, feminism was shown in the most stereotypical ways. Yes, it was very empowering to see how women can be liberated, but it was very cliché, feminism could have been shown in much more meaningful interesting ways.